A Brussels district mayor's attempt to have police shut down an international conservative conference was suspended by Belgium's top administrative court on Wednesday.
The Council of State - Belgium's highest authority on the legality of decisions by public officials - said it was the responsibility of the authorities to protect freedom of assembly from the risk of public disorder.
Conservative politicians and writers met in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday. Speakers included Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former British home secretary Suella Braverman.
Emir Kir, the socialist mayor of the Brussels municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, where the conference was being held, on Tuesday ordered the police to shut down the gathering, on the grounds it created a risk of public disorder.
Police officers prevented people from entering the venue, but speakers and attendees who were already inside were allowed to continue. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo condemned the move as "unacceptable" and "unconstitutional" in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Miriam Cates, a Conservative member of the British House of Commons, was smuggled in through a service entrance, wearing a disguise, The Times of London reported.
The Council of State rebutted Kir's public order argument, saying the conference itself did not pose such a threat.
"The threat to public order seems to be derived purely from the reactions that its organization might provoke among opponents," the court ruled.
"On the face of it, the government appears to be under at least a best-efforts obligation to protect individuals in the exercise of their constitutional right to assemble."
Farage posted a jubilant video statement to X on Wednesday. "The local mayor has had his comeuppance," Farage said. He called the result "a victory for free speech."
"The Belgian Council of State could not have been clearer," said de Croo on Wednesday, welcoming the decision. "Our constitution sides with the citizen, their free speech and freedom to assemble.
The venue in Saint-Josse was the third conference organizers had booked in Brussels. Two other venues - in the districts of Etterbeek and the City of Brussels - had cancelled under pressure from local politicians.
Kir was originally elected as a member of Belgium's francophone Socialist Party, but was expelled in 2020 over a meeting with far-right Turkish nationalists.
After his order was overturned, Kir wrote on X on Wednesday, "To be mayor is to be the guarantor of public safety."
He said his order was based on an assessment by Belgium's Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis. The unit rated the risk as "average," which the court said "does not require disproportionate efforts by police forces."
"My lack of sympathy for those who preach hatred is assumed, but it's the maintenance of public order which motivated the ban on an event of which I was informed, indirectly, late in the evening," Kir posted on X.
Acknowledging the Council of State's decision, Kir wrote: "We are in a state of law and democracy. The Council of State has ruled, and the event will go ahead today."
He added: "The question of safety nevertheless remains. I have taken my responsibilities as the mayor to prevent overflow and I remain vigilant to how things develop."